Practice Planning (2020 edition)

This year, I have been using Trello to plan and organize my own music practicing. Check out my vlog where I do a detailed walkthrough of my Trello Board to plan not only my daily practices, but any studio livestreaming and recording projects:

My Music Practice Trello Board Walkthrough

Reference Links

Here are some links to other sites and playlists that I referenced in my vlog:

• Kanban - A Brief Introduction

• Trello.com: a web-based Kanban-style list-making application

• Bulletproof Musician Blog

• How to Bullet Journal for Music Practice on YouTube

Finally, here are links to my content related to practicing music:

• My Practice/Project Board

• Practicing Music Posts on My Blog

• Practice Time with Ms. Rhona Series on YouTube

What practice planning strategies do you use? What practice ideas work for you? What doesn’t? Please add them to the Comments and let’s discuss!

Making a Practice Schedule

Hi gang! Sorry for the lack of updates. My Wordpress upgrade went wonky and everything was down for a while, but we're back with new practice tips and tricks. The key to making progress with any activity is frequency. That's why dance, sports and martial arts groups train three or more times a week.

As a musician, a lot of that training has to be done at home, mostly on your own. You need to manage your practice routine - an not just because you don't want your parents or your music teacher nagging you about it. You have to want to get better, which means that you need a practice plan and a practice schedule.

Here are some websites I've tracked down with some tips on setting up a practice routine, as well as some sites that have practice logs:

Establishing Good Practice Habits (FYI: He's right - practice your arpeggios!)

Kids' Music Practice Charts

Making the Best Use of Limited Practice Time

Music Practice Schedule Template

The Power of a Practice Schedule

The Musician's Way - Downloads (I think I'm going to try out the Practice/Creativity Log)

Now if you're an aural learner, that is you learn by listening, then record your practices regularly and review them. If you're a visual learner, record a video of yourself. It's as easy as grabbing your smartphone, tablet, camera or iPod Touch.